Coalitions for JusticeThe Story of Canada's Interchurch Coalitions

Abstract: During the 1970's and early 1980's the churches found new ways to promote national and global justice. The promote international development, while Project Ploughshares and the Aboriginal Rights Coalition focus on Canadian issues of public policy. Some of the coalitions are well known and others remain unfamiliar to most Canadians The book is divided into two sections allowing each group to tell its own story followed by ten essays which provide insights into new approaches for the church's social justice work. The authors recount examples of grass roots action that made a difference on particular issues. The coalitions allowed them to take the church's concern for justice far beyond mere pronouncements by church leaders. The second section of the book whilst a celebration of the coalitions as "living expressions of God's grace in our midst" does address the issues that the churches face now: sponsoring churches are tightening their belts giving rise to new ways of restructuring the coalitions and with it sometimes painful and acrimonious debates on priorities. Linked to the financial constraints is the new conservatism of the times and its attitude towards social justice within society and the churches.